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iLIFT Systems review: one year update

Joined
20 January 2004
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1,135
Location
SoCal
Finally getting around to this!

I had iLIFT Systems' VRH kit installed on my NSX in early June 2014 so it's been over a year now. I have put about 38000 miles on the NSX since then and have driven the car daily through a humid DC summer, a rainy autumn and spring, and snow/salt/ice through all of winter, including consecutive weeks well below freezing. This past year also included multiple cross country trips (N/S as well as E/W), and I'm now in the middle of another unusually hot summer although now I'm in Honolulu. All this means I feel pretty confident that I've used the iLIFT kit in a really wide variety of situations... probably way more than Steven Lee may have intended for his invention ;)

And the iLIFT? It has been amazing the entire time. I was in DC for the first 9 months I had iLIFT and used it typically two to four times a day to clear speed bumps on my daily commute. The system raises and lowers the front of my car quickly and reliably (I have a front-only installation). It has failed only once: the weather was about 5 degrees Fahrenheit and the iLIFT was stuck in the 'up' position for about 20 minutes, eventually coming back down after a few miles of driving. Anyone who has seen my car knows I am daily driving at a dangerously low ride height over notoriously shitty roads ~ yet I have scraped my front lip only twice since getting my iLIFT installed (and this was only because I had brain farts and completely failed to press the button to lift the front of the car). I even had my new Shine GT-Spec front lip painted in body color because I am so confident that I will not scrape again.

The past three months, I have been in Honolulu and am now using iLIFT far more frequently... up to 10 times a day because there are so many speed bumps and my parking situation now has me going up/down a steep ramp each time. I have not done any maintenance to the kit, although it is nice that Steven Lee is just on the other side of the mountains now if I ever have an issue I guess. Over the past year I've even used the iLIFT in a lot of unexpected ways, such as driving 20 miles or so over dirt/gravel roads (no rock chips on the front of my car from that) and for a little extra height over flooding highways. Bonus: the iLIFT is easy and reliable enough to use to have longshoremen drive your NSX onto/off of a ship. No scraping!

Now for some negatives:

-first, the obvious. iLIFT Systems is not cheap. You can buy several front lips for the price of an iLIFT Systems setup. However the peace of mind knowing I can drive anywhere I want, park anywhere I want, and I won't have issues getting over obstacles. There are other kits and they may be cheaper but I doubt they are as good as iLIFT is.

-second, I think installing iLIFT is probably not easy. I say 'probably' because I did not do this install myself (I think I can change my own oil and that's pretty much the extent of my mechanical abilities) so instead had a trusted friend do it but it looked like a real pain in the ass. For my install, we had to drill into the car and I personally felt uncomfortable with clipping into my factory wiring harness. Your own experience however may be different.

-third, my air pump is noisier than I expected. I have it installed in my fender (no compromises on trunk space) but that means any noise from the pump is immediately transferred throughout the whole car. Other installations I've seen that are mounted in the trunk seem to be quieter because of the extra padding/materials surrounding the system, but I use my trunk regularly so I feel the noise is a worthwhile tradeoff.

-hella flush bros and stanced out kids will think you are on "bagz" and ask about your kit. They will be impressed with your ride quality and how reliably the system works but you will have to constantly explain how the iLIFT is completely different and how it does not compromise your suspension to look sick as fuck y0.

-I scraped my rear once going down a particularly steep ramp because my front-only iLIFT was activated. I guess the ramp was such that the front-only lift tilted my rear in such a way that it scraped. I bet having a front-and-rear iLIFT installation would have prevented the issue and I am planning to upgrade my system to include the rear lift once I have enough fancy rear parts to justify such a thing (i.e. diffuser, exhaust, etc.)

Other than these issues, I highly recommend the iLIFT Systems kit and have no regrets with my purchase. I always choose my mods with daily driveability in mind and I am happy to say that no other modification I have done has expanded the usability of my NSX more than the iLIFT Systems setup. The stealthiness, reliability and daily usability of the kit is top-notch and I look forward to taking the capability further by upgrading to a front/rear system.

For reference: as of August 2015 my setup is a front-only manual (no sensors) iLIFT Systems kit with a larger tank option (to allow for a future front/rear setup. This is installed over a KWv3 suspension with OEM top hats, set to the lowest possible KW-recommended ride height. My front lip is a Shine GT-Spec which sits about two inches above level ground.
 
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Finally getting around to this!

I had iLIFT Systems' VRH kit installed on my NSX in early June 2014 so it's been over a year now. I have put about 38000 miles on the NSX since then and have driven the car daily through a humid DC summer, a rainy autumn and spring, and snow/salt/ice through all of winter, including consecutive weeks well below freezing. This past year also included multiple cross country trips (N/S as well as E/W), and I'm now in the middle of another unusually hot summer although now I'm in Honolulu. All this means I feel pretty confident that I've used the iLIFT kit in a really wide variety of situations... probably way more than Steven Lee may have intended for his invention ;)

-hella flush bros and stanced out kids will think you are on "bagz" and ask about your kit. They will be impressed with your ride quality and how reliably the system works but you will have to constantly explain how the iLIFT is completely different and how it does not compromise your suspension to look sick as fuck y0.

Awesome write up as i have been thinking of getting this system myself as my ride height is not far off yours with the same front lip (7cm clearance)

Im amazed that you put 38k on in a year, thats insane

and funniest negative point ever
 
Im amazed that you put 38k on in a year, thats insane

FF Drifter's car got driven extensively and in various locations - rural, highway and city (and DC driving SUCKS!) - so his iLift probably got 5 years worth of testing out of that 1 year.
 
How often does the compressor turn on and for how long? Does it come on every time you lift? Does the compressor stay on longer than 20 secs? A min?

The compressor can be set via the a setting in the ECU to come on when the tank pressure falls below a preset percentage of max or optimal tank pressure. With that said, I have a front and rear lift with a small 1 gallon tank I believe mounted in the rear 1/4 panel, so my pump will come on every time I do a lift. I often do front and rear lift because I have the DF Carbon Fiber NSXR prototype defuser that hangs really low in the rear so my tank probably depletes more than half the available air. It takes about 45 seconds to a minute I think to refill my tank. Those that opt for the trunk mounted tank set up have the option of using the larger tank that iLift provides. I'm also using the small pump since mine is rear 1/4 panel area mounted. I believe iLift also has an optional larger higher volume pump.

I've had my iLift in my last black NSX and now currently in my Yellow NSX. I removed it from the black one and transferred it to my current NSX myself. The wiring is straightforward as its all color coded and labeled well right on the ECU board. You literally match Blue with black strip wire to the terminal labeled as such and so forth. The hardest part of the install for me was routing the air lines as you can't use sharp bends or it will kink the lines. You also don't want to use a really long run as that will drop pressure to the cups, so finding the best route without kinking the air lines and making it all look good and hidden took time. Its more thinking and trial and error time than anything.
 
How often does the compressor turn on and for how long? Does it come on every time you lift? Does the compressor stay on longer than 20 secs? A min?

As ChrisK mentioned, there are settings that can tweak this. I believe I am pretty close to the factory settings, so the compressor comes on 15 seconds or so after each iLIFT use to replenish the air that went into the cups. The compressor then stays on for about 20 seconds and that is enough to fill the tank again. I think that is consistent with ChrisK's estimates for his front/rear lift compared to my front-only lift. Of course, if I use the lift again before the tank is full, then it will also take longer to fill.

The only time it's taken a full minute to fill up is when I've completely wiped out the tank or when the system fired up for the very first time. It sounds very similar to the little air pumps that come in the NSX's factory flat-tire kit.

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FF Drifter's car got driven extensively and in various locations - rural, highway and city (and DC driving SUCKS!) - so his iLift probably got 5 years worth of testing out of that 1 year.

Unfortunately my mileage rate is going to drop a lot out here, but my iLIFT use has increased substantially. It's like DC driving here too, but the view is better.
 
I'm not sure what pumps you are using (Viair seems common for all of these kits), but one way to help with pump longevity is to drop the maximum air pressure a bit. The pumps last a lot longer supplying a max pressure of 150psi rather than 200psi. I guess they're not that expensive in the grand scheme of things, but something to consider.

Obviously, how much air pressure you can drop depends on the volume air tank you have and if you have a front-only or front-back kit.

Dave
 
Perhaps you guys can inquire if the iLift cups can handle a higher PSI. I can get about 2.5-3 lifts (depending on ambient temperature) on my 1 gallon tank before the compressor turns on to refill the tank. If the tank turned on each time a lift is initiated that might not be ideal for some people.. Also, 1 min fill time would be too long for me but that's a function of compressor size and max pressure. I like the small size Steven uses in his trunk kit - pros/cons I suppose.
 
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Perhaps you guys can inquire if the iLift cups can handle a higher PSI. I can get about 2.5-3 lifts (depending on ambient temperature) on my 1 gallon tank before the compressor turns on to refill the tank. If the tank turned on each time a lift is initiated that might not be ideal for some people.. Also, 1 min fill time would be too long for me but that's a function of compressor size and max pressure. I like the small size Steven uses in his trunk kit - pros/cons I suppose.

Actually I can get about the same 2-3 front lifts from a full tank as well, but the reason my pump comes on after every lift is because I have set the ECU to activate the pump when the tank pressure is 10% or 15% below max set tank pressure. I forget exactly which value I set. If I were to set that value to say 80% below max tank pressure, the pump would not activate as often. I chose the smallest pump purely for weight and space savings. I know it take a little longer to fill the tank and perhaps the pump longevity is not as great, but I saw Steven torture test the pumps, kill many pumps, and he was in direct contact with the President and CEO of the pump company so I'm confident the pump will last many years. Even if the pump did die after so many years I felt the cost to replace the pump is fairly cheap.

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He's a beast and puts us all to shame.

Couple pics from his stop in CA....

https://instagram.com/p/3vOfshpUNZ/
https://instagram.com/p/3vMvgYpULf/
https://instagram.com/p/3vMVYAJULD/
https://instagram.com/p/3vL_CQpUK0/

I got a demo of the iLift and was immediately like DROOL I NEED IT :smile:

Wow, two Midnight Pearl NSX's in one place. Now that is a rare sight indeed. :)
 
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